Summary: Researchers have developed a new method to profile gene activity in the living human brain, offering new insights into neurological conditions like epilepsy. By analyzing RNA and DNA collected from electrodes implanted in patients’ brains, the study linked molecular data with electrical recordings of seizures, creating a detailed snapshot of gene activity.

This approach enhances understanding of seizure networks, potentially improving the precision of epilepsy surgeries for patients who don’t respond to medication. Beyond epilepsy, the method could have applications in studying Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and schizophrenia, advancing knowledge of brain disorders at the molecular level.

The current standard of care for psychosis is a diagnostic interview, but what if it could be diagnosed before the first symptom emerged? Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester are pointing toward a potential biomarker in the brain that could lead to more timely interventions and personalized care.

“Establishing such biomarkers could provide a key step in changing how we care for, treat, and offer interventions to people with psychosis,” said Brian Keane, Ph.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry, Center for Visual Science, and Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Keane recently co-authored an article in Molecular Psychiatry that identifies how MRI scans could reveal brain differences in people with psychosis.